HM Prison High Down is a Category C men's training / resettlement prison. It is located on the outskirts of Banstead in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(overlooking

Banstead Downs Banstead Downs is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Banstead in Surrey. There are Saxon burial mounds on the site and they are a Scheduled Monument Today, with wooded areas and wide open fields, Banstead Downs are predominantly ...

), and is immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The prison is operated by

His Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

, and is near Downview Prison for women.

History

High Down Prison was built in 1992 on the site previously occupied by

Banstead Hospital Banstead Hospital, also known as Banstead Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital in the village of Belmont, Sutton, adjacent to Banstead. History The hospital was commissioned by the Middlesex Court of Magistrates, as the Third Middlesex County Asyl ...

. In November 2010 the prison football team played a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

match against

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, losing 8–0.

The prison today

High down is now a category C training prison (used to be category B local prison). There is a visitors centre at the prison with facilities including baby changing facilities and a crèche. Conditions for prisoners reportedly deteriorated following staff cuts. '' The Clink'' is a public restaurant located within the prison and was the first such to open within a UK prison.

Accommodation and facilities

Support includes: sentence planning, drug counseling, First Night in Prison scheme and Bail Information scheme. The prison has a detox unit. Prisoners can wear own clothes rather than uniforms. Showers are provided on each landing. A pinphone system is in use, with all cells having their own phone.

Healthcare

The prison plans to open an OPD unit with a capacity of 23 beds in single cells, and has an Integrated Substance Misuse service. Dental services are provided three times a week, optician services fortnightly, chiropody services weekly, asthma services weekly and sexual health services weekly. GP and out of hours services are available. There is one full-time consultant forensic psychiatrist and an additional psychiatrist who works two days per week. Healthcare services are provided by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

Notable inmates

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

– jailed for 16 years at Southwark Crown Court in 2015 following conviction for multiple historic child sexual offences, was moved to HMP High Down one month into his sentence. * Chris Lewis – former England cricketer was jailed in 2009 for drug smuggling and spent six years at the prison. *

Josh Payne Joshua James Payne (born 25 November 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He has previously played for West Ham United, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Wycombe Wanderers, Doncaster Rovers, Oxford United, Aldershot Town ...

, footballer who was jailed for twelve months for

actual bodily harm Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (often abbreviated to Assault OABH, AOABH or simply ABH) is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and th ...

and

common assault Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on High DownHMP High Down - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Down Prisons in Surrey Category C prisons in England 1990s establishments in England High Down